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Mirage is the kind of Matthew J. Costello horror-thriller that the 90s mass-market form was producing in volume: a Las Vegas casino-hotel as setting, an apparent supernatural incident as inciting event, a multi-character ensemble whose backstories are sketched lightly and whose connections to the central mystery slowly accumulate. Costello has written across horror, SF, and video-game novelizations, and the book's pace shows the multi-form discipline.
The Vegas setting is handled with care. The horror set pieces are competent. The cast is functional rather than memorable. The book reads quickly and resolves cleanly.
Three stars. Recommended to readers of 90s mass-market horror. Not the entry point for the form.
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